It’s that time of year again when everyone is feeling bloated, sluggish and lardy after the indulgent food and free flowing booze during the festive season. For new mums, who may have been trying to lose weight before Christmas it can be a hard time, when you are really not feeling body confident at all and your tum looks extra squidgy. This year, rather than making a resolution to visit the gym 3 times a week, which you are unlikely to stick to (let’s be honest!) try my ten tips to REALLY making exercise part of your life in 2015:

Walk, walk and walk some more! And I don’t mean shuffling along. Good long strides at a brisk pace to really get your blood flowing. Walk as often and as briskly as possible.

Little and often. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a lot of free time. If you have a spare 10 minutes do some exercise (cardio or weights). If you try and make this part of your lifestyle whenever you get the chance it will add up over the course of a week. Aim for around 3 hours a week.

Do some resistance training. This means buy some cheap hand weights or a resistance band and use this equipment in your workout. This will help really sculpt your bod and more muscle means a faster metabolism.

Have fun! Stick on some music and jump around your bedroom or dance around your baby. Find a workout DVD you really like and try to think of your exercise in a positive way. You’ll feel so proud of yourself afterwards!

Make it easy for yourself. Have your workout gear and equipment all to hand, not tucked away in the back of a cupboard. That way you really can get active when you only have a little bit of time.

Work your abs every day –it will only take a few minutes. Do 50 ab pull ins a day (squeeze in your tummy tight, hold for a couple of seconds then release; you can do them anywhere!) and try and do 50 sit ups every day when you get up. Look at a twist board – I swore by 100 twists on mine a day to get my flat tum back as a new mum.

Work your pelvic floors every day. You are a new mum. I don’t need to explain why J Try 50 squeezes every day. You can do these anywhere.

Mix it up. If you don’t you’ll get bored. Try different DVDs, books and equipment at home. Get out and about and get some fresh air. If you are lucky enough to have some free time try the gym, swimming, jogging and classes and see what you like the most. This also means your body is always being challenged.

Make active choices every day. Walk (have I told you to walk?!), take the stairs, leave the car at home, do some gardening, housework or play games with your kids. You’ll burn loads of calories without even noticing!

Keep it up. This is the most important thing! It’s no good being active one week and not the next. Exercise and healthy choices need to be part of your life forever. This will help you look and feel great for yourself and your family.

For the perfect new mum exercise plan, my book the 3-Plan will be available in the next few weeks.

There just aren’t enough hours in the day are there? Most of us lead very busy lives, leaving very little time for ourselves. However, when you are having a baby or are a new mum it is essential to make time for exercise – for your physical and mental well-being.

Even if you can only squeeze in ten minutes a day with a short walk, that’s better than nothing. Just focus on the areas of your body you want to work on. If you are a ‘morning person’ try getting up earlier than usual, otherwise try a workout while your baby is having a nap, before or after work, or fit in a quick session before dinner.

Let your family and friends know how important exercise is to you and try to build it in to your weekly routine. Once they know, your nearest and dearest may well offer to help out with babysitting or dinner-making to free up some of your precious time.

Accept that every week will probably be different and you may not be able to organise regular exercise slots (a little tricky if you are someone who likes their routines), but build activity and healthy choices into your everyday life and you’ll start to see real results.

As the mum of a one year old Christmas will be very different this year… No more lazy lay ins and booze fuelled nights out (well maybe just fewer 😉 Or quiet winter nights in the pub with the boyf or casual mooches around the shops. Or boxing days asleep on the sofa. Or turning up super-glam on Christmas day with tiny clutch bag feeling relaxed with an armful of gorgeous pressies.

Now we pack a sofa-size baby bag with enough snacks and supplies to last a week and turn up for dinner loaded with teddies, books and lots of other big plastic toys (and she’ll still prefer the wrapping paper). With a bit of luck the Christmas day outfit will escape the morning ready brek and they’ll be time to put on some lip gloss.

The afternoon will be spent dancing like a plonker, singing, playing, colouring and watching kids TV instead of napping. Shopping will be more like a smash and grab and hangovers will have to take a back seat to 7am starts and pooey nappies (breathe through the mouth!) Definitely no boxing day recovery!

BUT, I wouldn’t change a single thing. Christmas has got it’s magic and sparkle back.

I feel like a very lucky girl to have such a lovely family and while I enjoyed the wild days at the time, this year feels like this is what it’s all about. And watching my little pudding (that’s my daughter not the boyf) get all excited brings a happy tear to my eye.

Have a good one all and be grateful for all the good things you have x

Nonsense! Unless we are in the middle of a tornado (which we haven’t been far away from in recent days) there is no excuse not to wrap up and carry on with your normal activities. Wear a jacket, gloves and hat and make sure you’ve got some reflective strips if you are running. If you are going to the gym or exercise class there’s certainly no excuse; it will be fine when you get there, the only problem is that motivation on cold, dark evenings!

If you couldn’t possible face venturing out then invest in a good exercise DVD, jump around to some music in your bedroom or do a workout with some dumbbells or a resistance bands.

Whatever you do try and get your heart rate up and a bit of a sweat on. In the run up to Christmas it is easy to make excuses about exercise – “I’ll get back to it in the new year”, but don’t forget – calories in and calories out need to marry up or you’ll end up a new year porker!

You’ll feel great when are you are done and all ready for those gorgeous festive frocks.

If you do make exercise a regular part of your routine then don’t beat yourself up about the occasional rest; this is the luxury of someone who makes keeping fit part of their lifestyle – there are some days when only a glass of wine and a mince pie will do, go to the gym tomorrow 🙂